1. Preparing for Exams

2. 1. Start Early
Preparation for exams should begin earlier than the day before the test. You can’t cram an entire unit of information into an all-nighter. Get started at least a week before the exam.

3. 2. Get Organized
Begin by making yourself a calendar outlining a daily schedule of topics for review. Cover a small amount of material for each class each day. Every time you complete a topic, give yourself a mini reward.

4. 3. Outline
Once you have decided what you need to study and how much time you need to spend studying, it is time to actually study. One of the best ways is to make succinct outlines. As you read over your textbook and class notes, write a brief summary for each topic. Highlight the areas in your outline that were most troublesome. When you have finished with all the material, you will have an outline you can review.

5. 4. Make Flashcards
Similar to outlining, making flashcards is a really helpful technique for studying. By writing down the information from your outline, you are already doing half the studying. Once the flashcards are complete, you will have a portable study packet to look over.

6. 5. Get help
If you are having trouble memorizing something or a particular concept is just not sinking in, get help before it’s too late. Ask your teacher to go over a glitch you might be having. Or if memorizing 200 vocabulary words seems like too much to do, recruit your family members/ friends to quiz you with index cards.

7. 6. Sleep
You need at least seven hours of sleep a night to function. Tests are designed to make you think. If you are sleep-deprived, you won’t be able to remember any of the information you worked so hard to cram into your brain.

8. 7. Stay calm
Do not panic at the exam! Even if at first glance the test is overwhelming, remember to breathe. If a question seems too hard, answer all the questions you know, then return to the ones you left blank. Remind yourself that you are prepared.

9. 8. Don’t Rush
You have spent at least two weeks studying, so what’s another couple of minutes? Work through the exam slowly and read all the questions before answering them. If you are done before the time is up, look over your answers.

10. 9. Relax Post-exam
Don’t let panic overwhelm you. Even if you think you bombed the exam, worrying will not change your score. It may, however, affect your mindset for your next final. Zone out the last test and stay focused on the next one. Odds are, you didn’t do as badly as you think.

11. ORGANIZATIONAL TECHNIQUES

12. 1. A Schedule -
Nothing will lead to success more than a study schedule. It will take some time to set up, but this is time well spent because it means that every time you sit down to study you will be more efficient.

13. 2. Use a Calendar-
Find the date of your test and start working backwards. Even if you are using a prefab GMAT study plan, you should still sit down and look at all the days and weeks before the test, and map out the plan. Mark out the hours that you will study, the days you know you will be too busy, and the flex days for extra studying if something unexpected cuts into your study days.

14. 3. Set Big Goals and Small Goals
- The big goals are set—ace the test and get into a top school. But you also need small goals and tasks for each day you study. Layout a plan for the small goals and tasks for each day ahead of time. This will ensure you cover all the necessary material before the test and give you little boosts of confidence when you accomplish the small, daily goals.

15. 4. Regular Study-
Haphazard studying is tantamount to not studying. Try the best you can to set up a regular time during the day. And even try to set up regular study days. The more that you can make studying and prepping a routine, the more habit forming you make it, the more effective your study time will be. Your body and mind will be primed and ready to learn. Pro Tip: Schedule your test for the same time that you study.

16. 5. Balance -
Plan for breaks. Usually, 5 minutes for every hour of studying is sufficient. Also, don’t dedicate the whole day to only one thing. Add variety to your studying so that you cover a range of topics in a two or three hour period. You will actually learn more and retain more by mixing things up. This goes for day-to- day studies also. Spend some time reviewing material from a previous week as well as learning something new. Finally, eight hour power sessions of study are not necessarily the best way to learn. Plan ahead and spend a few hours studying over the course of multiple days. This is far better.

17. 6. Notebook
- Your notebook is as important as the material you use to prepare for the test. You need high- quality practice questions just as much as you need an organized approach to taking notes and recording your progress. Here are a few tips for your notebook.

18. 7. Get a Notebook You Like
- This might seem obvious, which is probably why it is often overlooked, but having an object that you inherently like will encourage you to use it more. If this means spending a little more on a notebook with nice paper, do it. The extra cash is worth it.

19. 8. Write the Date -
Every time you start a new page, write the date at the top. This will make it easier to navigate your notebook and to search through it for a particular formula. I know this might seem obvious, but it is what is most obvious that we tend to overlook.

20. 9. Write Down Everything
- You never know when you will want to return to a problem you solved or a strategy you discovered through your studies. Make note of everything you notice along the way: the types of questions you miss, the reason you missed a question, a shortcut you learn, a new grammar point to remember, or a creative approach to a math problem. Also, the act of writing everything down will help to cement the ideas in your mind

21. 10. Create A Personal Cheat Sheet
- Not for cheating, but for remembering—a cheat sheet is a quick reference guide of question types, common wrong answer traps, math formulas, commonly tested grammar points, and anything else that you might need to reference as you begin to study. When you review your notes from a study session, add the most crucial information to your cheat sheet.

22. Use your cheat sheet as you study and don’t be afraid to look at it
Use your cheat sheet as you study and don’t be afraid to look at it. The cheat sheet serves the same purpose as training wheels on a bike—something to get you started. But at a certain point, the training wheels hold you back from really riding a bike. Same goes for the cheat sheet. At a certain point, you will notice that you don’t need to look at the cheat sheet, and you can just dive in and dominate those practice questions.

23. 11. When You Study
- Finally, we are ready to study, but hold on and look around. Is there something more that you can do to increase your chance for success?

24.  12. Study Space-
Make it neat. It’s as easy as that. Eliminate all the nonsense and clutter, and not just on your desk, but in the whole room. The more you clean the space, the easier it will be to focus, find materials, and learn.

25. 13. Mimic Testing Environment -
This is more for when you take practice tests, but even for your regular study, do your best to mimic the test. If it is on a computer, make sure to practice on a computer. But don’t just use your laptop. Borrow someone else’s computer or go to a library and use a computer you are not comfortable on. Use a whiteboard for your notes instead of pen and paper. You want to minimize surprises on the day of the test, so take the time to find out what the testing environment is like and mimic it when you study.

26. Learning Styles

27. Do you know your learning style?
Understanding the best study techniques for you is key to effective learning and your consumption of new information. Some people prefer to read, while others prefer to listen. Some people learn best by doing while others like to plan things out logically. Understanding how to get the most out of your style of learning will help you in the long-run. It will also impact how you approach and plan your study as an exam approaches. Make an appointment with your school counselor to discover your learning style and the most effective ways you can study.

28. Links to test your learning styles
excellence/teaching-and-learning/discover-your-learning-style